Adjustable and mountable gallery device

ABSTRACT

A gallery device is described that can be mounted over a door for showcasing or organizing various items. The gallery device includes at least two vertically arranged cords that are substantially parallel to each other. The gallery device additionally includes one or more horizontal cords, extending between the vertical cords, that provide points of attachment for the various items. The horizontal cords are vertically adjustable along the vertical cords to accommodate different sized items.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 62/516,944, filed on Jun. 8, 2017. The entirety ofthe aforementioned application, including related appendices filedtherewith, is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This application relates generally to a gallery device and, moreparticularly, to a vertically-mountable apparatus for supporting variousitems.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional home décor options to display items include frames for ahanging on walls, leaning against walls, or standing on table surfaces.Alternatively, the items themselves may be affixed to a wall or surfacevia various attachment means (i.e., nails, tacks, hooks, magnets,adhesive, tape, or other sticky substances). Additionally,organizational solutions having pockets, rods, hooks, cords, etc. can bealso be attached to walls or other surfaces for storage of items suchas, documents, shoes, hats, bags, towels, or the like. Like the homedécor options (e.g., for artwork or papers items), these organizationalsolutions can also affix to surfaces via nails, hooks, adhesives, tapes,or the like.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic orgeneral understanding of various aspects of exemplary, non-limitingembodiments that follow in the more detailed description and theaccompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as anextensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the sole purpose of thesummary is to present some concepts related to some exemplarynon-limiting embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the moredetailed description of the various embodiments that follow.

In various, non-limiting embodiments, a gallery device, mountable to asurface, provides support to showcase or organize various items. Forinstance, the gallery device can be mounted over a door, or to a wallsurface, to enable displaying or storing items relative to anunderutilized surface area. In one configuration, the gallery deviceincludes at least two vertically arranged supports that aresubstantially parallel to each other. Further, the gallery deviceincludes one or more horizontal spans or rungs, extending between thevertical supports, that provide points of attachment for the variousitems. The horizontal spans are vertically adjustable along the verticalsupports to accommodate different sized items.

These and other embodiments are described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with referencethe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a galleryapparatus according to one or more aspects;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a galleryapparatus displaying various items in accordance with an aspect;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of anover-the-door mount for the gallery apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a hook forthe over-the-door mount shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of the hook inFIG. 4 as mounted on a surface;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a terminalend associated with the over-the-door mount of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a terminalend associated with the over-the-door mount of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a terminalend for horizontal spans of the gallery apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a terminalend for horizontal spans of the gallery apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a terminalend for horizontal spans of the gallery apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of a stopassociated with the terminal end of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of anattachment that cooperates with the stop of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of anattachment that cooperates with the stop of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to a gallery apparatus which hangsover a door, on a wall, or on any surface in a removable, non-damagingmanner. The gallery apparatus generally includes at least two mainsupports extending vertically (e.g. generally top-to-bottom with respectto the door or surface) and substantially parallel to one another. Themain supports can attach to the door or surface via hooks. The hooks canbe over-the-door mounted hooks or affixed to the door or surface viaother means (e.g., adhesive strips, suction cups, or other non-damaging,non-permanent attachments).

The gallery apparatus further includes at least one item support thatextends horizontally between, and in a direction transverse to, the mainsupports. The item support is adjustably movable vertically along themain supports. The item support, according to an example, provides anattachment point for various items such as, but not limited to, artwork,photos, mail, memos, paper ephemera, and the like. For instance, suchitems can be coupled to the item support via a clothespin, a hook, aclip, a spring clip (e.g. carabiner or the like), a snap hook, orsubstantially any other detachable linking means capable of coupling toboth the item support and the item.

According to an aspect, the main supports and the item support are shockor bungee cords to provide versatility in mounting the gallery apparatusto variously sized doors or surfaces. The shock cords can be providedwith terminal ends to facilitate attachments. For instance, the itemsupports can carry terminal ends to couple to the cords comprising themain supports. The main supports, in turn, can carry terminal ends tofacilitate attachment to a hook or clip associated with the door orsurface. In accordance with another example, the main supports can berods having one or more through-holes placed along the respectivelengths. The item support can be a barbed-end shock cord that can bethreaded through the holes in the rods. By threading through differentpairs of holes (i.e. one on each main support rod), the height of theitem support can be adjusted.

According to one embodiment, a gallery apparatus is provided. Thegallery apparatus includes a pair of main supports extending in a firstdirection with respect to a surface. Each main support can include firstand second main support terminal ends that respectively couple tosurface attachments associated with the surface so as to mount the pairof main support to the surface. The gallery apparatus can furtherinclude at least one item support extending in a second direction withrespect to the surface and between the pair of main supports. The atleast one item support includes opposed ends respectively having itemsupport terminal ends for coupling the at least one item support to thepair of main supports. The second direction is transverse to the firstdirection. The at least one item support is configured to provide anattachment point to support an item for display.

According to various examples, the first direction is vertical and thesecond direction is horizontal. The surface is a door and the surfaceattachments comprise over-the-door hooks. The main support terminal endcan include a neck portion defining a channel configured to receive aterminal end of a main support cord and a loop portion configured toengage the surface attachment associated with the surface. The mainsupport terminal end can further include a sleeve configured to slideover the neck portion and secure the terminal end of the main supportcord within the channel. The item support terminal end can include acord stop having an aperture and a button having an opening and coupledto a spring. Compression of the spring via application of a force on thebutton aligns the aperture and the opening so as to enable a mainsupport cord to pass through. The spring secures the item supportterminal end to a selected position on the main support cord of the mainsupport. The item support terminal end a neck portion defining a channelconfigured to receive a terminal end of an item support cord forming theitem support and a sleeve configured to slide over the neck portion andsecure the terminal end of the item support cord within the channel. Theneck portion and the cord stop are integrally formed as a monolithicpiece. The aperture of the cord stop and the channel are orthogonallyarranged with respect to each other.

In another embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes at leasttwo main supports extending in a first direction where each main supporthaving first and second main support terminal ends that respectivelycouple to mount points on a surface. The apparatus further includes atleast one item support extending between the at least two main supportsin a second direction transverse to the first direction. The at leastone item support has opposed ends each carrying an adjustable mount forcoupling the at least one item support to one of the at least two mainsupports.

According to various examples, the adjustable mount includes a firstchannel configured to receive the main support and a second channelconfigured to receive the item support. The first and second channelsare orthogonally arranged with respect to each other. The first channelis an aperture and the main support passes fully through the aperture.The adjustable mount includes compression means for securing theadjustable mount at a selected position along the main support. Thecompression means is selectively engageable so as to adjust a positionalong the main support where the adjustable mount is secured. The atleast one item support is configured to provide an attachment point tosupport an item for display. The at least two main supports and the atleast one item support can be bungee cords. The mount points for thefirst and second terminal ends comprise over-the-door hooks.

In yet another embodiment, a gallery apparatus mountable to a door isprovided. The gallery apparatus includes a pair of main support cordsextending vertically with respect to the door. The gallery apparatusfurther includes a set of main support terminal ends disposed onterminal ends of the main support cords. The gallery apparatus furtherincludes a set of over-the-door hooks configured to respectively engagedwith the set of main support terminal ends to mount the main supportcords to the door. The gallery apparatus can also include a plurality ofitem support cords extending horizontally between the pair of mainsupports cords. The gallery apparatus can further include a plurality ofitem support terminal ends respectively disposed on terminal ends of theplurality of item support cords. The plurality of item support terminalends are adjustably secured to the main support cords at variousvertical positions. In addition, the gallery apparatus can include aplurality of clips selectably engageable with the plurality of itemsupports to support items for display by the gallery apparatus.

The above noted features and embodiments will be described withreference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used torefer to like elements throughout.

Turning initially to FIG. 1, illustrated is a gallery apparatus 100mountable to a door or surface 102 via surface attachments 104. Surfaceattachments 140 may include hooks, hangers, suction cups, adhesives,pegs, or other devices suitable to couple the gallery apparatus 100 to adoor, wall, or other surface. According to the non-limiting embodimentdepicted in FIG. 1, surface attachments 104 include over-the-doorattachments to mount the gallery apparatus 100 to a door 102.

Gallery apparatus 100 includes two or more main supports 110, which canbe non-rigid (e.g. cords or ropes) or rigid (e.g. rods, sticks, poles,dowels, etc.). Each of main supports 110 extends in a vertical directionwith respect to door or surface 102. The main supports 110 aresubstantially parallel to each other as shown in FIG. 1. A main supportterminal end device 112 (also referred to as main support terminal end112) is disposed on each end of each main support 110. The main supportterminal end 112, in one example, can be a hook, ring, or loop thatcouples with surface attachments 104 mounted on the surface 102 so as toattach the main supports 110 to the surface 102.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gallery apparatus 100 can include four surfaceattachments 104, in particular, a top pair and a bottom pair. The toppair can be mounted at a higher position on surface 102 (or a topportion of a door 102) and the bottom pair is mounted at a lowerposition on surface 102 (or a a bottom portion of the door). Each mainsupport 110, via main support terminal ends 112, couples to one surfaceattachment 104 of the top pair and one surface attachment 104 from thebottom pair.

In one embodiment, particularly the over-the-door embodiment, mainsupport 110 are made from an elastic material. Accordingly, the elasticmaterial of main support 110, when attached to surface attachment 104,operates to compress the bottom surface attachment 104 against a bottomsurface of the door 102. Thus, the surface attachment 104 need not bepermanently affixed to surface 102 or otherwise attached via surfacealtering means.

The gallery apparatus 100 includes one or more item supports 120, whichextend horizontally between and in a direction transverse to mainsupports 110. The item support 120, on each end thereof, couples to mainsupport 110 via item support terminal ends 122. The item supportterminal ends 122, for example, can be an eyelet, a ring, a loop, aclip, etc. The item support 120 is movable vertically along mainsupports 110 to be positioned at various heights.

Turning briefly to FIG. 2, the item support 120 provides attachmentpoints for various items. For instance, an item 130 can be mounted ongallery apparatus 100 via a fastener 132 that engages at a positionalong the horizontal span of item support 120. The fastener 132 can be aclothespin, a hook, a clip, a spring clip (e.g. carabiner or the like),a snap hook, or substantially any other detachable linking means capableof coupling to both the item support 120 and the item 130.

Turning to FIG. 3, illustrated is an exemplary embodiment of surfaceattachment 104. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, the surfaceattachment 104 may be an over-the-door mount for the gallery apparatus100. As shown in FIG. 3, main support 110 (a bungee or shock cord, forexample) carries a main support terminal end 112, which interfaces witha hook 114 mounted over an edge of door (not shown).

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an exemplary structure of hook 114, which iscapable of being carried on a door 102. As shown, hook 104 can beapproximately S-shaped and has hook portions (or serifs) on opposedends. As shown in FIG. 5, one hook portion can interface with mainsupport terminal end 112 and another hook portion can wrap around an endof the door 102. As mentioned above, main support 110 may be an bungeecord or otherwise made from an elastic material. When the main supportterminal 112 is coupled to hook 114, the elasticity of main support 110operates to compress and hold hook 114 against the end of the door 102.In particular, the elasticity of main support 110 may secure hook 114 toa bottom end of door 102 against the force of gravity.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an exemplary main support terminal end 112 thatcooperates with surface attachment 104 or hook 114 to mount and supportthe gallery apparatus 100 on surface 102. The main support terminal end112 includes a neck portion 140 defining a channel configured to acceptan end portion of a cord (e.g., a bungee or shock cord) therein. Asleeve 144 slides over an neck portion 140 to secure the cord within thechannel of neck portion 140. More particularly, the neck portion 140includes tabs 146, which are compressed against the cord (e.g. mainsupport 110) located in the channel by the sleeve 144. The tabs 146 mayhave some resiliency and exert a bias force against an inner surface ofsleeve 144. Accordingly, the tabs 146 are pushed against a cord in thechannel and also push against the sleeve 144 to secure the componentstogether with friction. The main support terminal end 112, as shown,further includes a loop portion 142 configured to secure to a hook orother protrusion, for example on surface attachment 104 or hook 114.

Turning now to FIGS. 8 and 9, illustrated in an exemplary, non-limitingembodiment of an item support terminal end 122. As shown in FIGS. 8 and9, the item support terminal end 122 is configured to couple to at leasttwo bungee cords arranged substantially orthogonal to each other. Thus,the item support terminal end 122 creates a T-joint between two cords.As described above, item support terminal end 122 couples item support120 to main support 110. Similar to main support terminal end 112, itemsupport terminal end 122 includes a neck portion 154 that defines achannel configured to receive a cord (i.e. an end portion of itemsupport 120) and a sleeve 158 that engages over the neck portion 154 tocompress tabs 156 against the cord. Item support terminal end 122further includes a cord stop 150 that includes a button 152 tofacilitate movement of item support terminal end 122 along a support,such as main support 110. The cord stop 150 includes a spring 160coupled to button 152. Spring 160 maintains button 152 in a protrudedposition as shown unless a force is applied to the button 152 to causecompression of the spring 160. Upon compression of the spring 160, anopening 162 of button 152 aligns with an central aperture 164 of cordstop 150. Upon alignment of opening 162 and aperture 164, an end portionof a cord (e.g. main support 110) can be threaded through the alignedopenings. Upon release of the button 152, spring 160 extends to compressthe threaded cord against inner walls of the opening 162 and aperture164, thus securing the cord stop 150 (and item support 120 coupledthereto) to the main support 110.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the neck portion 154 may be integrally formedwith cord stop 150 such that item support terminal end 122 is amonolithic piece. Thus, in one embodiment, item support terminal end 122is a single component that couples to both main support 110 and itemsupport 120.

FIGS. 10-13 illustrate another embodiment of item support terminal end122, which includes separated components. In particular, as shown inFIG. 10, a cord stop 170 is attached to main support 110 and the itemsupport 120 carries an eyelet end 180. The main support 110 can bethreaded through the eyelet end 180 so as to be supported at a desiredheight by cord stop 170.

Turning to FIG. 11, an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of cord stop170 is illustrated. The cord stop 170 includes a spring 176 coupled to abutton 172. Spring 176 maintains button 172 in a protruded position asshown unless a force is applied to the button 172 to cause compressionof the spring 176. Upon compression of the spring 176, an opening 174 ofbutton 172 aligns with an central aperture 178 of cord stop 170. Uponalignment of opening 174 and aperture 178, an end portion of a cord(e.g. main support 110) can be threaded through the aligned openings.Upon release of the button 172, spring 176 extends to compress thethreaded cord against inner walls of the opening 174 and aperture 178,thus securing the cord stop 170 to cord (e.g., the main support 110).

In FIGS. 12 and 13, an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment of the eyeletend 180 is depicted. As shown, eyelet end 180 includes an eyelet portion182 and a neck portion 184. The neck portion 184 defines a channelconfigure to receive an end of a cord (e.g. item support 120). Theeyelet end 180 further includes a sleeve 186 configured to slide overthe neck portion 184. When slid over the neck portion 184, the sleeve186 engages tabs 188 of the neck portion 184 to push the tabs against acord in the channel, thereby securing the eyelet end 180 to the cord.The eyelet end 182 includes an opening 190 through which another cordmay pass. For instance, as shown in FIG. 10, the main support 110 may bethreaded through opening 190.

As utilized herein, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, orclear from the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended tomean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “Xemploys A or B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: Xemploys A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, thearticles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from the context to be directed to asingular form.

Further, as used herein, the term “exemplary” is intended to mean“serving as an illustration or example of something.”

Illustrative embodiments have been described, hereinabove. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the above devices and methodsmay incorporate changes and modifications without departing from thegeneral scope of the claimed subject matter. It is intended to includeall such modifications and alterations within the scope of the claimedsubject matter. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” isused in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gallery apparatus, comprising: a pair of mainsupports extending in a first direction with respect to a surface, eachmain support having a main support cord terminated by first and secondmain support terminal ends that respectively couple to surfaceattachments associated with the surface so as to mount the pair of mainsupports to the surface; and at least one item support extending in asecond direction with respect to the surface and between the pair ofmain supports, the at least one item support having opposed endsrespectively having item support terminal ends for coupling the at leastone item support to the pair of main supports, wherein the seconddirection is transverse to the first direction, wherein the at least oneitem support is configured to provide an attachment point to support anitem for display, and wherein each item support terminal end of the atleast one item support comprises: a cord stop having an aperture; abutton having an opening and coupled to a spring, wherein compression ofthe spring via application of a force on the button aligns the apertureand the opening so as to enable the main support cord of one of the pairof main supports to pass through; a neck portion defining a channelconfigured to receive a terminal end of an item support cord forming theitem support; and a sleeve configured to slide over the neck portion andsecure the terminal end of the item support cord within the channel. 2.The gallery apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first direction isvertical and the second direction is horizontal.
 3. The galleryapparatus of claim 1, wherein the surface comprises a door and thesurface attachments comprise over-the-door hooks.
 4. The galleryapparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second main support terminalends of each of the pair of main supports respectively comprise: a neckportion defining a channel configured to receive a respective terminalend of a respective main support cord; and a loop portion configured toengage the surface attachment associated with the surface.
 5. Thegallery apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first and second main supportterminal ends further include a sleeve configured to slide over the neckportion and secure the terminal end of the main support cord within thechannel.
 6. The gallery apparatus of claim 1, wherein the spring securesthe item support terminal end to a selected position on the main supportcord of the main support.
 7. The gallery device of claim 1, wherein theneck portion and the cord stop are integrally formed as a monolithicpiece.
 8. The gallery device of claim 1, wherein the aperture of thecord stop and the channel are orthogonally arranged with respect to eachother.
 9. An apparatus, comprising: at least two main supports extendingin a first direction, each main support having first and second mainsupport terminal ends that respectively couple to mount points on asurface; and at least one item support extending between the at leasttwo main supports in a second direction transverse to the firstdirection, the at least one item support having opposed ends eachcarrying an adjustable mount for coupling the at least one item supportto one of the at least two main supports, wherein the at least one itemsupport is configured to provide an attachment point for one or moreclips selectably engageable with the at least one item support tosupport an item for display, wherein the at least two main supports andthe at least one item support comprise bungee cords.
 10. The apparatusof claim 9, wherein the adjustable mount includes a first channelconfigured to receive the main support and a second channel configuredto receive the item support.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein thefirst and second channels are orthogonally arranged with respect to eachother.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first channel is anaperture and wherein the main support passes fully through the aperture.13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the adjustable mount includescompression means for securing the adjustable mount at a selectedposition along the main support.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe compression means is selectively engageable so as to adjust aposition along the main support where the adjustable mount is secured.15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the mount points for the first andsecond terminal ends comprise over-the-door hooks.
 16. A galleryapparatus mountable to a door, comprising: a pair of main support cordsextending vertically with respect to the door; a set of main supportterminal ends disposed on terminal ends of the main support cords; a setof over-the-door hooks configured to respectively engage with the set ofmain support terminal ends to mount the main support cords to the door;a plurality of item support cords extending horizontally between thepair of main supports cords; a plurality of item support terminal endsrespectively disposed on terminal ends of the plurality of item supportcords, wherein the plurality of item support terminal ends areadjustably secured to the main support cords at various verticalpositions; and a plurality of clips selectably engageable with theplurality of item supports to support items for display by the galleryapparatus, wherein the main support cords and the item support cordscomprise bungee cords.